By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-09-04 00:24:53
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
好了，我知道在座的各位有些已经听腻了关于科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 的消息，但如果今天在网络上爆炸性传播的流言有任何一点是真的，那么作为马刺球迷，你很难不感到一丝慰藉。事情的来龙去脉是这样的。这一切始于体育播客主持人巴勃罗·托雷 (Pablo Torre) 在他的播客节目 Pablo Torre Finds Out 中爆料称，伦纳德“与一家欺诈性的植树公司签订了一份价值2800万美元的‘挂名工作’代言合同，而该公司由快船队老板史蒂夫·鲍尔默 (Steve Ballmer) 资助了5000万美元”，并且他有文件可以证实这一点。
独家消息：根据 @ PabloTorre 获得的文件，科怀·伦纳德与一家欺诈性的植树公司签订了一份价值2800万美元的“挂名工作”代言合同，该公司由快船队老板史蒂夫·鲍尔默资助了5000万美元。
一位内部消息人士称：“此举是为了规避工资帽。” pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@ pablofindsout) September 3, 2025
据报道，此事与他在2021年签下的多年合同有关，据内部人士透露，这是一种规避工资帽限制的手段。当然，鲍尔默和快船队方面否认了这些指控，但这可能会引发NBA的调查，而一旦指控属实，那么罚款、禁赛和没收选秀权等严厉处罚可能随之而来。
这是家什么样的欺诈性公司？
根据托雷的说法，这家公司名为Aspiration, Inc，在其联合创始人乔·桑伯格 (Joe Sanberg) 因欺诈指控被捕后，于2025年破产。在Aspiration公司的破产文件中，债权人名单上有一家名为“KL2 Aspire LLC”的有限责任公司，文件显示，该公司的管理人正是科怀·伦纳德。据报道，伦纳德在2022年4月与Aspiration公司签订了代言合同，但没有证据表明他曾为该公司做过任何代言活动来证明这份合同的合理性，据称该合同为期四年，每年支付700万美元。
巴勃罗·托雷是谁，他值得信赖吗？
托雷是一位可信的新闻记者，其职业生涯专注于体育领域的调查报道，如赌博和欺诈等。从哈佛大学毕业后，他于《体育画报》(Sports Illustrated) 开始了自己的职业生涯，并在2009年撰写了一篇名为《运动员为何会破产》的获奖文章，该文章促使有关方面对一家名为Triton Financial的公司涉嫌欺诈投资者的行为展开了调查。托雷随后于2012年加入ESPN，担任资深撰稿人，并以嘉宾或代班主持的身份出现在多个节目中。最终，他于2023年加入了Meadowlark Media，并从那时起创办了Pablo Torre Finds Out。
这件事和马刺队有什么关系？
老实说，没什么直接关系（就我们所知），因为这并非发生在伦纳德还在马刺队效力期间，也没有证据表明当时存在违规招募行为。然而，时间来到2017-18赛季，当他和他的舅舅丹尼斯·罗伯逊 (Dennis Robertson) 的种种闹剧开始上演时（例如赛季大部分时间缺阵、远离球队、躲着不见马刺队医，并声称球队误诊了他的伤情），当时众所周知，他正寻求被交易到洛杉矶的球队之一，最好是快船，但马刺队并不打算满足他的愿望。（尽管他在猛龙队的那一个赛季取得了成功，但这实在可惜，话题有点跑偏了。）
虽然那已是陈年往事，大多数人会说该翻篇了，但时至今日，一个不争的事实是，大多数人仍在那场风波中站队伦纳德，同时指责马刺队处理不当和误诊，尽管有足够多的证据表明：1. 他们对伦纳德膝盖的判断是正确的；2. 这一切都只是一个计策，目的是在不因主动要求交易而损害自己声誉的情况下，去到他心仪的目的地，并离开这个将他培养成巨星、为争冠而建队的“完美”球队。
尽管马刺队终于——但愿如此——完成了由伦纳德风波所引发的重建，并迎来了他们的新星维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)，但不可否认的是，球迷们仍然能感受到那次背叛的刺痛感，而且越多电视评论员们提起此事并不断归咎于马刺，就越难让这件事彻底翻篇。当然，我们也应该铭记，在被证明有罪之前，任何人都应被视为无辜。如果伦纳德和快船队在这件事上是清白的，那么真相终将大白。
然而，如果他们真的有罪，虽然这无法弥补伦纳德让马刺队经历的七年炼狱般煎熬，但对于一个被自家球星及其舅舅仅仅因为贪婪而无端中伤的球队和球迷群体来说，这算是一种迟来的正名。也许有一天，所有人终将看到我们长久以来所知晓的事实：马刺队才是对的，而不是科怀和他的舅舅丹尼斯。
点击查看原文：Rumor: Clippers used fraudulent company to pay Kawhi Leonard, circumvent salary cap
Rumor: Clippers used fraudulent company to pay Kawhi Leonard, circumvent salary cap
Alright, I know some of you guys are tired of hearing about Kawhi Leonard on this site, but if any of the viral rumors exploding on the internet today are true, it’s hard not to feel just a twinge of justification if you’re a Spurs fan. Here’s the lowdown. It all started when sports podcaster Pablo Torre reported on his podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out that Leonard “signed a $28M endorsement deal for a ‘no-show job’ with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer,” and he has the documents to back it up.
Exclusive: Kawhi Leonard signed a $28M endorsement deal for a “no-show job” with a fraudulent tree-planting company funded by $50M from Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, according to documents obtained by @ PabloTorre.
“It was to circumvent the salary cap,” an inside source says. pic.twitter.com/F6z5pNEkI1
— Pablo Torre Finds Out (@ pablofindsout) September 3, 2025
This reportedly occurred in relationship to his multi-year contract signed in 2021 and, according to insiders, was a means to circumvent salary cap restrictions. Of course, Balmer and Clippers are denying the allegations, but it may bring about an investigation from the NBA, and if the claims are true, then severe punishment such as fines, suspensions and loss of draft picks could be in order.
What is this fraudulent company?
According to Torre, the company was called Aspiration, Inc, which went bankrupt in 2025 after its co-founder, Joe Sanberg, was arrested on fraud charges. Among the list of creditors in Aspiration’s bankruptcy filings is an LLC under the name “KL2 Aspire LLC”, which according to the documents, is managed by Kawhi Leonard. Leonard reportedly signed the endorsement deal with Aspiration in April 2022, but there is no evidence that he ever did anything to sponsor them and justify the contract, which is reportedly pay $7 million per year across four years.
Who is Pablo Torre, and is he trustworthy?
Torre is a credible news reporter who’s career has focused on sports investigations, such as gambling and fraud. After graduating from Harvard, he began his career with Sports Illustrated, where he wrote an award winning article in 2009 called Why Athletes Go Broke, which spurred an investigation into a company called Triton Financial for defrauding investors. Torre later joined ESPN in 2012, where he was a senior writer and appeared on several shows, both as a guest and sometimes a substitute host. Finally, he joined Meadowlark Media in 2023, which is when he started Pablo Torre Finds Out.
What does this have to do with the Spurs?
Honestly, nothing (as far as we know) considering it did not happen while Leonard was still with the Spurs, there is no evidence of tampering during that time. However, by the time the 2017-18 season rolled around and all of his and his uncle Dennis Robertson’s shenanigans began (such as sitting out most of the season, staying away from the team, hiding in a closet from Spurs’ doctors, and claiming they misdiagnosed him), it was known he was vying for a trade to one of the Los Angeles teams, preferably the Clippers, but the Spurs weren’t going to fulfill his wishes. (It’s too bad it worked out in Toronto for that one season, but we digress.)
While that was long enough ago that most say it’s time to move on, the fact is to this day, it still feels like the majority take Leonard’s side on that debacle while blaming the Spurs for mishandling the situation and misdiagnosing Leonard despite there being more than enough evidence out there proving that 1. they were right about his knee, and 2. it was all a ruse to get to his preferred destination without burning his reputation for demanding a trade or leaving the “perfect” franchise that had turned him into the star player he became and was built to contend.
While the Spurs have finally — hopefully — completed the rebuild that was triggered by the Leonard debacle and have their new star in Victor Wembanyama, there’s no denying that fans still feel the sting of that betrayal, and the more talking heads bring it up and keep blaming the Spurs for it, the harder it is to officially put it in the review mirror. Of course, we should also all remember that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and if Leonard and the Clippers are innocent in all this, then it will come to light.
However, if they are guilty, while it won’t make up for the seven years in purgatory Leonard put the Spurs through, it will feel like some sort of justification for a franchise and fanbase that got slandered by their star and his uncle for no reason other than greed. Perhaps someday, everyone will finally see what we have known for a long time: the Spurs were right, not Kawhi and Uncle Dennis.
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock